


Everyone Needs Guidance from Time to Time

by Ononymous



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Undertale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 21:38:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18859609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: Asriel underestimated how hard it would be to sneak out for Nice Cream, and now he has to take the long way home. Not to worry, he won't have to find his way all on his own. This time.





	Everyone Needs Guidance from Time to Time

**Author's Note:**

> Original suggestion: asriel visits hotland and gets lost

It had been so long. At some point he'd given up even pretending this could happen ever again. But then everything changed. He carefully tweaked the circumstances, put his bold plan into action, and it paid off. After yearning for so long, it was his at last.

"A double cone nice cream, please!"

"Sure. That'll be fifteen gold."

"Thank you!"

A few minutes later the simple yet sincere taste was eagerly applied to Asriel's tongue, the seller waving her supposedly-the-colour-of-the-sky-blue arm as he walked away. The bliss of his frozen prize kept the smothering heat of the distant lava from bothering him. In hindsight maybe Asriel should have asked for his allowance when the Nice Cream stand was in Snowdin or Waterfall, but he couldn't wait. And when was the next time he was going to have a double cone all to himself? If he'd been out with his parents they'd only ever get him a single to avoid ruining dinner. And it wasn't like he had anyone he could conspire with to provide an alibi. Now he just needed to get home before that silly council meeting wrapped up.

For a double, it didn't last long, and he was tossing the last piece of cone into his mouth, and licking his mouth to try and clean nice cream before it soaked into his fur. Perhaps the heat of the path egged him on to eat faster. He didn't regret it though, it had been delicious. The only thing now was he had lost his distraction from the heat. It was a good thing he'd already reached the elevator. Nip in, reach the very top, dash on to New Home. And sure enough the magically-cooled machine was waiting for him, and he allowed his eyes to close in relief, jabbing the button with a fuzzy finger. He kept his eyes closed as the muzak wafted through his floppy ears. It was a light-hearted remix of a famous tune by Mitty the Ghost, and the sheer lack of intensity amused him. A soft "Ding" opened his eyes, and he slid through the opening doors as fast as he could. Phew, it was hot, good thing he didn't have too far to go. Down this short path, turn right and-

"Uhh..."

Instead of a somewhat precarious path leading into a tiny hole in the wall of the lava chamber, it was a large flight of stairs. A small flame sat on the bottom steps, eagerly jotting something down in a notebook.

"Um, excuse me," said Asriel.

The flame flickered as his concentration broke. "What do you want?"

"Is this the way to New Home?"

"Oh, sure! Just up the stairs, left, straight, right, up the stairs, over the vents, under the reactor, up the stairs, down the stairs, left, up the stairs, right, right, right, left, straight, left and straight!"

"Thanks," said Asriel for the few steps of those directions he absorbed, "but I thought the exit was right next to the elevator."

"Well it is, if you wanna wimp out and take the elevator up to the ninth floor. This is the sixth."

"Ohhhhhhh..." Asriel planted his hand on his forehead. "I got out at the wrong floor. Thanks, mister!"

"There's no 'Mister' here, the name's Chaud Flamesman! Remember that, kid!"

"Y-yessir!"

The flame grinned. "That's more like it. Now if ya don't mind, I gotta get back to writing my memoirs. It's gonna take a long time, but it'll be great in the librarby."

Asriel left him to his work, and hurried back to the elevator, quite happy to wimp out if it meant he got home before his parents. He jabbed the call button and waited, rocking back and forth on his paws so as not to think about how hot it was. It didn't work for very long long.

"...come on come on come on..."

He jabbed the button again. There was a loud clunking noise, a harsh buzzer from the elevator door and the sound of distant barking. A sign lit up above the buttons: _OUT OF ORDER._

"Uh oh..."

Without warning, Asriel had found himself smack dab in the middle of Hotland, the memory of the coolness of his nice cream fast fading in the presence of the sweltering heat. His first instinct was to find a grown up and tell them who he was. A guard or even his parents would surely be summoned. The problem was then he would be interrogated about what he was doing here all by himself, and he wasn't sure he wouldn't spill the beans and go without dessert for a month. That left one option. The only way out was through.

"Can't be that hard. Left, up the stairs... no wait, up the stairs, left, right, left, straight... or was it right? Ugh..."

He shook his head to try and focus, but the directions were all jumbled up. Even though that flame had been pretty grumpy at the interruption, Asriel decided to risk it, and went back to the stairs.

"Hey Mister Fireguy, can you tell me...?"

The steps were unoccupied. All Asriel could see was a note, which he picked up.

_Finished my memoirs. Taking them to a publisher now, I'm gonna be rich! Don't take my spot._

_-C.F._

Now truly without guidance, Asriel looked up at the stairs. They were identical to the ones strewn around New Home, but in the ever-orange candescent light of Hotland they looked intimidating compared to the neutral grey he knew. It looked straightforward enough, but how long would it take to change? This was stupid, he thought. He should wait for the elevator to get fixed, or even for someone to come along and call a guard.

On the other hand, no pie. He leapt the stairs two at a time.

"Keep moving forward, keep moving forward, keep moving forward..."

His mantra kept him calm, distracted from the panicky thought that he might be truly lost. It was less useful, on the whole, as a navigation aid. Especially when whoever had built a lot of paths liked them to loop round so many times moving straight ahead would eventually route you back to an earlier junction. It was supposed to be some kind of anti-human defence, according to something he heard his parents say, and Asriel was learning it was pretty good at stopping monsters from advancing too.

"You lost, kid."

"Huh?!"

"I said 'You lost, kid.'"

Asriel turned towards the voice, a smooth headed monster wearing a white coat, large eyes taking everything in.

"N-no I'm not," said Asriel, rubbing his arm, "but thanks for asking."

"I wasn't asking," they said, no accusation in their tone, "I was telling. You, kid, are lost."

Asriel hadn't learned how to keep a bluff going when challenged yet. "...yeah. I'm trying to get to New Home. Please don't tell the guards."

"It's easy to be lost," mused the coat wearer, "you'd be surprised how quickly."

"Um, I think I'm learning." He rubbed his arm even faster.

The figure did not move at all. "Not even close..."

Asriel tilted his head. "Um, what do you mean?"

"Turn left three times, right once, then straight. You'll find the stairs then."

"Oh, okay. Thanks!"

The guidance erased the cryptic comment from Asriel's head. He took the left turn and was soon out of sight. His guide did not move or speak, even as other monsters came and went.

The directions paid off, and Asriel once again bounded up stairs, albeit slower than before, breath growing deeper to deal with the heat. His parents knew the intricacies of fire magic to direct unwanted heat away from them so the likes of Hotland would be tolerable, but they hadn't taught him how to do that yet. He wondered if he found a way to shave his chest he could stay cool enough to get out of here, then wear his jumper to hide it from his parents. No good, next bath time and he'd be busted. At least this level wasn't as twisty as the one below. The path meandered left and right, but there were no junctions. Hopefully he could reach the stairs and-

_ZZAP!_

"Ahh!"

A bright blue beam streaked across the path, inches from his muzzle. He fell backwards trying to dodge it, his trousers getting dusty. As he looked up to see what it was, it vanished. He wasn't allowed to think the coast was clear for long, as by the time he got back up the beam had returned. And he could see other beams beyond it, disappearing and reappearing either at random or with no pattern he could keep track of. He wasn't sure what they actually were, but Toriel had drilled not touching unknown magic into his head long ago. How would he get past this?

"Lost..."

Asriel's ears twitched in surprise, as he hadn't noticed anyone before the beams began. The speaker was a tall, slender cat in dark clothes, hand outstretched as though holding something, though it was empty.

"You're lost..."

"No I'm not," said Asriel, very grown up, "I know where I'm going! I just, um... dunno how to get over there."

"You know where you're going?"

"Yeah!"

"So decisive. Act on your instincts soon, and all will be well."

"Um, thanks sir. Hey, do you know how to..."

Asriel felt embarrassed asking about it, but the cat understood the unfinished question. A long arm reached to a nondescript metal slab, and opened it up to reveal a series of switches. He flicked the top one, and with another _ZZAP_ all the beams disappeared.

"Proceed down the path, child. Be ready to make a choice."

"Okay, thanks!"

He ran past the silent emitters, watched blankly by the cat until once again turning out of sight. There was no choice to worry about right now, so fear of pie denial was the only thought in his head. This level kept its simple layout and the next set of stairs were revealed. His bounds soon lost their zest, because for whatever reason the gap between the eighth and ninth levels was much wider than the lower levels. Soon no step went without his feet touching it, and the pace slowed. At the very top he tried to catch his breath, the one mercy being that it was definitely cooler near the top of the chamber than when he first left the elevator. All the firey and elemental monsters below acted like passive heatsinks as the scorching warmth helped sustain them.

"Follow..."

Asriel wasn't surprised or scared. Whether it was because of his earlier guides or because he was getting too tired to care, he didn't know. Facing the voice revealed a pale blue bird with stumpy wings, their large head barely held aloft by a thin neck. There was a weary smile on their earthbound beak as one of their wings gestured at him. He followed without question, not really paying attention to the directions they took.

"You did not expect this path, little one," said the bird.

"No," he agreed, "I guess detours like this happen, huh?"

"They do, they do." They passed other monsters, not speaking or drawing attention as they walked. "You know what to do when so detoured?"

"W-well, I guess I should have asked a guard..."

"And if there are none?"

"I'd find a grown up to tell, obviously."

"Hmm..." The bird looked straight ahead, not needing to check that Asriel was still following. "You'd be surprised..."

"At what?"

"When your path is detoured. When you are lost. What you choose in those moments when you should... You'd be surprised."

The heat was no longer a concern. "What are you talking about?"

"Some are fortunate. Their paths are simple, clear and unburdened. Others must make many diversions, and even then may never reach where they want to go."

"Uhhhh..." Asriel scratched one of his ears. "Is this one of those lessons about how being a King is hard or something? Because my dad talks to me about that all the time..."

"Prince and Pauper alike face difficult choices and hard times. Both can succeed. Both can fail. Will you succeed?"

"Yeah," he said defiantly, "I'll make the right choice!"

The bird stopped and looked back at him, yellow eyes meeting his green. Asriel couldn't tell what he was looking for.

"So young... Hmm..."

"What do you mean 'Hmm'?"

"...Follow..."

Asriel obeyed once more. As an experiment he stopped for a few seconds, and the bird continued regardless, leaving him to sprint to catch up. There was no more conversation. The young child's mind soon returned to his usual concerns, watching other monsters go about their lives without paying either of them heed, as though they weren't there. After what felt like enough left turns to have gone in circles five times over, they emerged into a clearing, with a path leading into a dark cavern clear from the lava below them. A large slime wearing a cap was gripping a wrench in a tentacle, wrestling with the elevator door. Loud barking could be heard.

"Oh, I know where I am now! Thanks for your help!"

The bird did not turn around. "Take care. Now and soon and beyond..."

"Sure thing!"

Asriel almost shivered when he finally left Hotland, the temperature was so different, but it revitalised him, and he began an all out sprint through the familiar streets of New Home, waving at those who waved at the Prince. Without a thought he soon saw the colour-splattered garden of his house and hurried inside. The silence was exactly what he hoped for, he had made it. The journey catching up to him, he almost fell asleep where he stood, but resisted the urge until he got to his bedroom, clearing the small mountain of toys into a clear play area, then fell forward onto his mattress.

"My child?"

From Asriel's perspective it was instant, but his brain figured out at least a few minutes must have passed, if not longer. A large hand was gently shaking him. Turning his head, he saw his parents.

"Oh, hi Mom, hi Dad."

"Are you alright?" asked Toriel. "It is not often you sleep at this time of day."

"Oh, I'm fine! I just felt like a nap, that's all."

Asgore rested the back of his hand on Asriel's fuzzy forehead. "Well you're not too hot at least. I suppose we all have such days. Remember that time I fell asleep when Woshington was talking?"

"Oh Gorey, you know for a fact that was not fatigue," she teased. "Asriel, we must apologise for being away so long."

"It's okay Mom, I know those meetings can take a while."

"Quite. Anyway, I thought we could have a treat, so your father and I have bought some nice cream."

Asriel grinned despite himself. "That sounds great, but, um, maybe I'll have it later."

Asgore chuckled. "Would you change your mind if I said I got you a double cone?"

Asriel bounced out of bed into his father's arms. And while the family enjoyed their dessert, three or four figures stood silently in the garden outside, watching. Not concluding or judging, just watching.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


End file.
